Khattar lays stone of memorial for Partition violence victims

Batting for reservation for Jats, Sonali Singh, a national executive member of the Bharatiya Janata Mahila Morcha (BJMM), women's wing of the BJP, on Friday said that the community's demand for quota should be met as it members no longer own big lands.

Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday laid the foundation stone of 'Panchnad Shahidi Samarak', a memorial for the Partition violence victims, at Masana village in the district in the presence of several religious leaders.

The memorial to be built on 25-acre land will be dedicated to lakhs of Punjabis who died in the violence in the run-up to India's partition on August 15, 1947.

Organisers said that a medical college, educational institutes, a library, old age home and a museum will be part of the project that would be expanded further on 100 acres.

Addressing a well-attended function, Khattar said that the memorial would be an apt tribute to unknown people who laid their lives for not changing their religious faith.

"I urge all sections of the society to contribute for the upcoming memorial as it will be a true service to the humanity. We should follow the principles and teachings of our ancestors," he said. Recalling the large-scale violence during the Partition, Khattar said that trains full of innocent people were dispatched and it was a very hurtful event.

KARNAL MP SKIPS EVENT

However, the function brought to the fore the BJP's inter-party factionalism.

The chief patron of the Panchnad Shahidi Smarak, considered as the brain behind the initiative, and BJP MP from Karnal Ashwani Kumar Chopra stayed away from the function. Chopra is a known political bête noire of Khattar and sources said that both want to project themselves as the tallest leader of the Punjabi community.

Chopra's wife Kiran, who is generally seen at various political and social functions in Haryana, also chose not to attend the function. Interestingly, all speakers, including the religious leaders of the Punjabi community, did not mention Chopra's name.